Monday, April 28, 2014

Due to the
scheduling of various standardized tests, i.e. A.P testing and individual state
assessments, May can be a difficult month to keep students inspired and the
learning momentum smooth.

The anxiety
that might crop up as teachers plan around the Testing Calendar will abate when
they use this middle and high school English lesson plan. With this unit, students’
not only choose the novel that they will study, but they also create a daily reading and
writing calendar that works with their scheduled exams and the teacher’s due
date. These factors maintain a flexible and flowing learning environment that engages
students and promotes responsibility.

Students
select a book of their choice to read and complete the detailed activities
included in the packet.

These requirements
involve a

1. General Novel Packet with four aspects: Book Notes, Plot Diagram, Quotes and Theme worksheets

2. Full-lengthEssay (500-750 words)

3. Group Project: "Threads-Making
Connections"

Every day the
students will either

read for half of the period, or

work on their packets for half of the period.

The second
half of the period, they will

participate in a whole class writing session,
concentrating on a facet of writing, or

discuss various aspects of their chosen novels with
peers. NOTE: Each student in the group should be reading a different novel. Members
take notes. These will enable them to complete the Threads-Making Connections activity.

By managing their
class time wisely, students will only have to complete the typing and compilation
of the required activities at home right before the final packets are due. They
should bind all of the components of their packet together in some way - a
folder with pockets is best.

Teaching
time won’t be interrupted and chaotic because of testing when you let this unit
plan become your May learning keystone. Its effectiveness stems from dual factors - students
hold the ownership for what they are
learning and when they are learning.

And you, my teacher
friends, will appreciate the fact that your students are challenging themselves
mentally as they increase their reading comprehension, their higher level
thinking and their writing skills with substantive activities and no loss of
learning continuity.

Monday, April 21, 2014

The characters in fiction are everyday people, aren't they? That's what Middle and High School students will determine in these three comprehension lessons.
This trio of activities will add depth to students' comprehension as they analyze a stories. Here, they will examine characters for round, flat, dynamic and static qualities, as well as for the impact of characters on the Plot/Conflict.

For Background Check, students mesh the information that they gather on a character from their reading with their understanding of the jobs offered during the time period of the story, or for the criteria colleges require for admission. This career choice depends on the character's age.

Background CheckDirections: The character of your
choice is applying for a job, or for acceptance to college - depending on his
or her age. As the person in charge of investigating the character, your
mission is to compile a dossier (portfolio) on him/her. Complete the following
information, place everything in a folder with pockets, and turn it in on the
due date.

The other two, What's My Title? and Fishing for Answers, require students to choose various plot situations, and then to analyze the character's actions and reactions on his or her main objective in the story, on the other individuals involved in the situation, and on the conflict.

What's My Title? Directions:
Choose five of the Rising Action situations,
summarize each one, and then create a title for each that reveals the Main Idea of the event. Next, explain your reasoning for the title that
you chose.

Fishing for Answers Directions: Each of you will choose a
situation from the story that hooks the character(s) in this action to the
conflict. Select one of the characters to evaluate, and then respond to each of
the points on this handout. You will have ten minutes to present your points
and to support them. When time is up, each of you will stand and present the
situation and your responses.

This tantalizing trio empowers students to add depth and understanding to their comprehension homes. Each of these English Language Arts lesson plans is aligned with Common Core Standards as well as Bloom's Taxonomy. This posting also contains detailed Teacher Notes.

Monday, April 14, 2014

Figurative language
enriches our reading and listening adventures and adds depth to our
understanding of the piece. In my latest Middle and High School English lesson
plan,Language
Arts Activity: Message - The Meaning is in the Words, students explore
similes, metaphors, personification, sensory imagery and hyperbole in the
stories that they study in class.

They
exhibit their understanding for the types of figurative language with their
selections to analyze, and deepen their comprehension with their explanations. This
Activity has three parts:Part A: Find three examples of each of the following literary terms. By the type of
figurative language, copy the passage that you chose along with the page
number. Next, explain its meaning.

Part
B: Your Turn - Create your own figures of speech. Make each one fit the people,
setting or plot of the book that you are studying in class, and

Part
C: Closure: Address each of the following questions.1.
Which type of figurative language do you find the easiest to identify? Explain
your response.2.
Which type of figurative language do you find the hardest to identify? Explain
your response.3.
Which type of figurative language do you like the best to create? Why?4.
Which type of figurative language do you like the least to create? Why?

This
standards-based and Bloom's Taxonomy aligned language arts lesson encourages
middle and high school students to decode the meaning in the author's words,
and to find the message in passages that are often confusing.

Monday, April 7, 2014

Students love to share
their opinions about anything school, family, friends (and foes), community and
world related. Review It! - a lesson plan for Middle and High School students -
offers them the opportunity to develop their reasoning and logic skills as they
write a review for a book that they have just finished studying in class.

Best of all, they
share their opinions with the world by publishing this piece on the book's page
on amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com.

In this language
arts lesson, students will show their understanding of the elements of
literature as they analyze the strengths and weaknesses of
the story as well as the piece’s intent and whether or not it met this
purpose. They will choose direct and indirect citations from the story to
support their points.

Review It! should
be introduced after students have completed the reading. This activity enables
students in grades 6-12 to exhibit their range of thinking skills from
knowledge through evaluation. Their writing will demonstrate their
understanding of all aspects of the elements of literature as well as their
analytic and critical-thinking skills.

This packet
includes:A. 6 reviews from
amazon.com - 2 each for The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins), Divergent (Veronica Roth) and Twilight (Stephenie Meyer)- for students
to read, analyze and discussB. A Review Check
List to use for the discussion of the Amazon reviews and for their original
writing.C. The Review It!
handout that details the directions for this activity as well as the points
that students must cover in their reviews.

Review It! offers
Middle and High School students an opportunity to practice how to share their
opinions through effective analysis.